5 Times Someone Sleeps With Shiro
by RebelzHeart
Summary: And one time they all do.
1. Chapter 1

Lance dreams of failing.

He dreams of telling Keith, _do the math_ , dreams of Keith telling him that he should leave the math to Pidge, then he dreams of failing even when they believed in him.

He dreams of getting in his lion and he dreams of fighting. He dreams of being the sharpshooter, and he dreams of _failing_.

Because everyone knows what the sharpshooter does. The sharpshooter's job is to cover up everyone else's messes.

Except, if the sharpshooter messes up, the team is _done for_.

Lance dreams of failing, of missing his shot (he _never_ misses), he dreams of Keith screaming as he's cut down, dreams of Allura trying to fight them off even as they swarm all over, he dreams of Pidge trying to run and Hunk telling him he doesn't blame him even as his head falls off his body.

He dreams of Shiro telling him he _failed_ , he dreams of Red putting up the particle barrier, dreams of Blue shutting him out, dreams that the lions would never let him near them.

Dreams that they tell him he's a failure, that he's off the team, and he was just a placeholder.

But the placeholder is alive, and the team is dead, and Voltron is done for, and it's _all Lance's fault._

Then he wakes up, sweat and tears and sobs as he stares at his hands and closes his eyes and tries to pretend that he doesn't believe it's true.

He finds his way to Shiro's door, somehow, and he just sort of stands there, staring at the door and trying to convince himself to get the guts to knock. He can't, though, so Lance just stands there and stares at the door and tries to figure out why his feet brought him here and why he's not leaving.

Then, a light, confused voice, "Lance? What are you doing here so late?"

 _Shiro_.

He has a cup of something dark... coffee? So late?... in his hand, and he's dressed in those old pajamas that Hunk bought for him a few weeks ago, a loose grey shirt and pastel pink pants with little spaceships on them, his head cocked to the side so that his white tuft of hair doesn't cover his eyebrows like they usually do.

Lance wants to run. To gasp and turn tail and run, and just leave Shiro thinking it was a dream or something. Instead he blinks and says quietly, "I had a nightmare," just like when he was a kid and didn't realize that nobody quite cares about your nightmares.

Shiro blows out a heavy breath and runs his free hand through his hair, flesh fingers tangling with white curls, and his eyes flicker up to Lance speculatively as Lance waits for Shiro to say something like _you're being stupid, go back to sleep and just deal_ because they're just nightmares, not real, but then Shiro says, voice weary and much older than it ought to be, "Come on in, then," and Lance just kind of blindly follows, still surprised that Shiro hasn't really scolded him yet.

When they get in, Shiro gestures to the bed and Lance obediently takes a seat as Shiro drops beside him, putting his coffee (or maybe not coffee? He's still not sure) on the ground next to his feet.

"Sorry, I, um," Somehow Lance manages to find his voice, but he can't quite find it in himself to crack a joke, his hands are still shaking, so the best he can do is grin brightly at Shiro. "I must have sleepwalked here or something! That's so cool, right? Sleepwalking is like, _totally_ insane. It's, like, _so_ weird, right?"

Shiro stares at him like he's grown two heads, and Lance turns bright red as he lowers his gaze to his hands, and he tries to will them to stop shaking, but they just won't do it.

"Lance," Shiro looks awkward but his voice is soft and comforting and lulls him into an odd sense of calm. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Nope, I'm good!" Lance replies brightly, standing up and hiding his hands behind his back. Maybe Shiro hasn't seen them shake. Doubtful, but a boy can hope. "Sorry about the disturbance, see you!"

He makes a move to go, but Shiro says quietly, "Your hands are shaking," and _well_ , Lance already knows that, but it's enough to stop him anyways, and his hands fall to his side, still shaking, the little traitors. Shiro closes his eyes and tilts his head back. "You don't have to stay," his voice is still as quiet as before, kind and gentle. "But if you want to, I'd welcome your presence."

System Lance somehow manages to reboot properly, and he tosses Shiro a cocky smirk as he crosses his arms over his chest replies arrogantly, "Of course you'd welcome my presence. I _am_ the awesome Lance, after all."

Shiro tilts his head to the side, and his eyes are a bit too dark and knowing for Lance's preference, and his hands fall to his sides once again as Shiro repeats, "If you want to."

Lance hangs his head and rubs a hand against his arm as he asks quietly, "Was I meant to be a paladin of Voltron, Shiro?"

" _What_?" Whatever Shiro was expecting, it was definitely _not_ that.

Lance bites his tongue and thinks _I messed up_ but Shiro just looks confused and still isn't saying anything, so Lance plows onward and says, "I'm just... I'm only a placeholder, right? For, like, the _real_ paladins to come in. Like how Blue, she didn't really connect to me, did she? She likes Allura better. And everyone knows that Red is Keith's, so I'm just, like, there to warm the bench, right? So I was just..."

Just what, Lance wonders. Just staying here, selfishly enjoying the time that he gets to spend with the other paladins, even if he doesn't deserve to be there?

"You deserve to be here," Shiro snarls, and Lance realizes with a start that he'd said it out loud. "Don't think otherwise, Lance."

Lance chews on his tongue and lowers his gaze and lifts a shoulder into a shrug. "Sorry for bothering you, Shiro," he murmurs quietly, and takes a step back, his smile lost again.

"No, stop!" Lance freezes, wonders how he messed up, and then Shiro continues, "You'd _never_ bother me, Lance, why would you say that?" and he just sort of. What.

Maybe his brain is fried? Maybe he's still dreaming?

"Come here," Shiro bends a finger and Lance pulls forwards like he's drawn by an invisible string, somehow ending up sitting beside Shiro again. "Alright, Lance. We're going to sit here and you're going to just listen for a while okay?"

"About..."

Shiro raises an eyebrow, and Lance shuts up.

"Alright," Shiro's face sets in something determined, and he says, "The first time we met, you and Keith and the others saved me. A few days later, on the ship, you helped me to..."

"Wait, wait, _wait_." Lance protests, leaning forwards. "What are you..."

Shiro narrows his eyes, and Lance falls silent, hanging his head.

"I remember clearly this one time where I was fighting and getting overwhelmed, and the others were too busy to help, but you managed to help me because..."

" _But_..."

"No talking, Lance. You managed to help me because you had my back, and I..."

Lance makes a few more protests, but eventually he just shuts up as Shiro tells him tale after tale after tale about how he's helped the team, and a few hours later, Shiro is still going and Lance has fallen fast asleep, head on Shiro's shoulder and hand intertwined with Shiro's as Shiro keeps talking, telling him as much as he can think of and then forcing himself to think of more.

He still has more to tell, Shiro thinks as his eyelids grow heavier and he yawns. But Lance is asleep, and Shiro wants to sleep, so he tucks Lance in and ends up curled next to him on the bed, both fast asleep.

 _I'll continue in the morning if I have to,_ Shiro thinks, but he's done his job, judging by the way that Lance whispers a quiet _thank you_ in the morning and goes back to acting like normal, promising Shiro that he gets it now.

(Shiro's still not convinced, but Lance returns to his room a few weeks later with two cups of an odd Altean drink in hand and a hesitant smile on his lips as he shrugs helplessly and asks if Shiro minds, but he had a nightmare. Shiro pulls himself up from his push ups and smiles fondly at Lance as he responds, _always._ )


	2. Chapter 2

**On he/she:** I'll be using "she" with Pidge for now, but if you prefer something else feel totally free to tell me.

* * *

Pidge dreams of her father, smiling at her as he and Matt promise to be back soon.

She dreams of Matt, laughing and teasing that he'll be going to outer space before her.

She dreams of them promising to tell her lots of stories when they come back, then she dreams of her mom crying as she screams _what do you mean you've lost contact with them_ , dreams of her mom, crumpled on the ground, dreams of her, staring at pictures of Matt and her dad and trying to understand why.

She dreams of Matt in the arena, with no Shiro to protect him, terrified and small (he's a _scientist_ , not a _fighter_ ), dreams of him being ripped to pieces while Pidge just watches, silent and unable to help.

She dreams of going back home, of her mom having died while she was gone, of Pidge being unable to help, dreams that she may have saved the universe but lost _everything_ along the way, dreams that she's useless and stupid despite that supposedly big brain of hers.

She wakes up to tears on her cheeks and goes to seek out her laptop before she remembers that Lance confiscated it with the scolding reminder that she needed her sleep.

Pidge takes in one breath, deep, shaky, but _there_ , and she lets it out, as slow and shaky as before, and takes in another.

She wants her laptop back. Wants it's dim light, it's code and the easy way that everything clicks the way she wants it to. Wants to be in control of _something_ , doesn't want to have to deal with this confusing swirl of emotions in her chest.

Pidge was made for computers, not for living organisms. She can't just program herself to not be effected, she _logically_ knows how to deal with this, but emotions are this big confusing mess that Pidge just doesn't want to deal with.

Who knows how to deal with emotions?

Oh, right.

Literally _nobody_.

Everyone aboard the Castle is one big mess of an unraveling of their mental health and stupid coping strategies. (Pidge knows enough about this stuff to know that she also isn't doing so great in that aspect, but whatever.)

Still, despite knowing that he's probably the biggest mess of them all, what with his PTSD and all, Pidge finds herself knocking on Shiro's door.

A faint, golden light trickles out from underneath the door despite the cool darkness of the hallway, and despite how light she made them, her knocks sound like a roar in the still quiet.

There's a crack of light that floods the hallway as Shiro opens the door, and a glance into the room shows Pidge the quickly messed up bed is Shiro's attempt at pretending he was asleep. (Hah, _right_. Everyone knows Shiro doesn't _do_ sleep, that lughead.)

"Hey, Lance, nice to see..." He pauses as his eyes land on Pidge, and he can't keep the surprise from his voice as he greets her with a light, "Oh, Pidge," and a warm, fond smile melts over his face. It would be disgusting if it weren't so sweet. "And what has brought you to my door today?"

Pidge hesitates. Humans are hard, interaction is... completely exhausting, at worst, if she's completely honest. (Though there are moments... where Hunk will theorize excitedly with her, or Keith will explain fighting in a way that makes it seem like programming, or Lance will just smile fondly at her for some dopey reason, like he's excited just because she's in the same room at him... where she feels warm and sweet and she almost looks forwards to being with her idiots.)

She doesn't know what the right thing to say. How to properly talk to Shiro, how to say the right thing without royally screwing everything up. She wishes that she had the right codes, the right cheats, that she knew what steps to take to get the right answer.

But she doesn't even know what the right answer is, let alone how to get it.

So she just shuffles her feet and stares at her toes, and when she looks back up, Shiro's features have softened into an even kinder smile, if that were possible.

"I see," he says quietly, and Pidge thinks that he really does, so when Shiro opens the door further and quietly says, "Come on in, Pidge," she steps in without hesitation.

"I don't have a good reason to be here," she blurts, and instantly shrinks back, _knowing_ that it wasn't the right thing to say, that she basically just confessed to wasting Shiro's time, that there's no way she can stay after Shiro knows _that_.

Shiro hums thoughtfully, then he says quietly, amused, "So you have a bad reason?"

Pidge rolls her eyes at him, and makes a face as she answers, "I don't _have_ a reason."

"Everyone has reasons," Shiro replies as he guides her to his bed and sits her down, that soft, fond smile still on his features. "You just might not consciously know them."

Pidge frowns at that, because if there's one thing she dislikes, it's not knowing.

"Come on," Shiro leans forwards and wraps her into a hug. Pidge goes stiff at first, awkward and unsure, before she just kind of pats his back. Shiro laughs, the sound louder and tickling her ear. "You relax into it. Put your chin on my shoulder or something and just relax."

She does that, and though the hug feels incredibly embarrassing, there's something to the warmth of Shiro's body against her's and the steady sound of his breath against her head that feels soothing.

"I wanted..." She swallows, and closes her eyes, "I wanted to know more about my family. My dad and... and Matt."

There's a sharp intake of breath. "I..." Shiro hums into her hair, the low sound making his throat buzz against her skin, grounding himself. "I can do that."

"I don't care," Pidge answers, uncaring, for once, about her family. "I just... I think I needed this." It's super embarrassing to admit, but Shiro makes a pleased little laugh, and his hug goes just a bit tighter.

"Want to stay the night?" Shiro asks, warm and accepting and open.

Pidge hesitates, "I should... I should go back to my room," she mumbles, pulling away from him and staring at her hands as the neatly fall back to her lap.

"But do you _want_ to?" Shiro presses.

Pidge turns red and glances at the door, thinks about her room, full of wires and tech and stuff that's incredibly cool and awesome. She thinks of falling asleep after she's too tired to stay awake, cold wires in hand and metal against her cheek. She glances at Shiro, warm and open and kind, and says quietly, "Just for tonight."

Shiro grins at her, bright and cheerful and almost childishly excited. "Of course," he agrees easily.

(They say nothing about it in the morning.)

(And if Pidge goes to his room again a few nights later... well, that's nobody's business but their's.)


	3. Chapter 3

Keith dreams of Galrans.

He dreams of Zarkon, laughing at him, dreams of Keith acting like a puppet on strings as he turns against his team.

He dreams of Shiro vanishing, dreams of Keith, left alone as he screams and shouts, dreams of that empty time when they announced that Shiro was missing (in space, in _outer space_ , if someone vanished in outer space they were _gone_ , they didn't come _back_ , Keith knew that, he knew, but he _hoped_ , quiznak, he had _hoped_ ), dreams that Keith had never found him, that they had never found Shiro, never found the lions, that he was still back on earth, angry and scared and alone.

He dreams of them finding Shiro's dead body, he dreams of screaming and denying as they send him to a grief counselor just like before, dreams of himself walking in a desert, searching for something but never being able to find it.

He doesn't know what he's looking for, but ever so often, he'll stop, and he'll think _I've found it_ and he'll dig in a sand dune, dig and dig and dig until his fingers bleed and his skin is raw and he'll find nothing as he keeps looking and looking and never finding.

He wakes up with the half distant memory of his dream, still wanting to look for something but not knowing what he wants to look for.

He buries his face in his hands and picks up his bayard and heads to the training bay before he remembers that Lance made the rule for it to be closed between 11pm and 5am, that Lance had been all "you need to sleep, Keith" and had told him that training was good, but rest was where you built muscles.

He also remembers scowling at Lance and mocking him for caring, though he remembers an odd warmth in his chest, fond and thankful for the fact that Lance cares about him enough to try and ensure he gets proper sleep.

Still, he doesn't want to go back to sleep, doesn't want to dream again, and as soon as he closes his eyes he can see Shiro's face, bloody and still and cold, and his heart leaps in his chest as he swings at the air with his sword but it doesn't matter, does it, he's still angry and jittery and he can't stay still enough for the monsters in the shadows to devour him.

He's terrified, Keith realizes, of absolutely nothing, he's gone paranoid and stupid but he can't shake the feeling of terror in his chest, so somehow he ends up storming out of his room and padding mindlessly down the hall before he ends up in front of Shiro's door.

Keith is familiar with Shiro.

He knows him, he's close to him, the two of them have a relationship that could rival Lance and Hunk's.

But he's never done this before, has never stood in front of his door, hesitant and unsure as he presses a hand against his arm and stares at his feet and tries to convince himself that he's being stupid and Shiro doesn't need to hear about Keith's stupid nightmares when he's already dealing with his own.

Keith's stupid imagination, compared to Shiro's very real PTSD, is unimportant.

It's stupid, and dumb, and he should return to his bed and go to sleep or just do push ups or whatever.

Except he ends up knocking, his body moving without him thinking about it, and within a second Shiro's door is opening and he stares at Keith in surprise before he exclaims, "Keith!" as though he were expecting someone else.

The thought makes Keith curious, but he doesn't comment on it, instead saying quietly, "I just wanted to see you."

Shiro's forehead creases, confused and concerned, and then he asks, voice equally quiet, "Did you have a nightmare?"

Keith thinks of Shiro, dead and gone and silent, and he whispers childishly, "Yeah," embarrassed and feeling dumb but relieved to get it off his chest.

Shiro reaches out a hand, holds it in front of Keith, open and ready but unsure, and Keith takes it as Shiro pulls him into the room and seats him on the bed. He hears Shiro mutters something under his breath, puzzled, like, "Do they all do this on purpose?" before Shiro looks back at Keith, and his face softens like butter in a microwave. "Want to tell me about it?"

Keith shakes his head, and lowers his eyes as Shiro runs a thumb across his knuckles. "It's... it's no big deal," It's a lie, and Shiro knows it, Keith knows that he's not much of a liar, and he won't even meet Shiro's eyes.

But all Shiro says is, "Alright," soft and sweet and accepting, and then he just keeps running his thumb against Keith's knuckles, silent and patient.

They sit there for a while, silence overwhelming them, before Keith gives in and says, "You were dead."

Shiro stiffens, shoulders and neck tensing, and then he looks down at Keith's hand as he murmurs quietly, "Oh."

 _Oh_. Like that little revelation, like the thought that Keith dreamed about something like that was simply unimaginable.

Once Keith starts, though, he can't stop, so he babbles on and on like an idiot (quiznak, he's not _Lance_ , why won't he shut up?), "You were on the ground and you were bleeding out and your eyes were shut and when I touched you, you were _cold_ and I never saw you again and I was alone just like last time and I couldn't..."

" _Keith_ ," Shiro's grip on his hand tightens, and his thumb stops moving. "I'm right here."

Keith sobs, tight and terrified and childish. "For now," he replies, trying not to cry but doing it anyways. "But this whole situation, with you and Zarkon and Voltron and with us constantly putting ourselves in danger and you even more so, the chances of you dying are so much higher, and I'm not strong enough to protect you yet and I can't..."

"Wait," Shiro raised his eyes to stare at Keith, brow furrowing in confusion. "Keith, your job isn't the protect me. It's _my_ job to protect _you_."

"It's not," Keith shook his head, refusing to look Shiro in the eyes. "You're the leader, you're the one who's the most important, it's you that..."

"It's _not_. Keith, why would I be more important than you?"

"Because you're..." His tongue feels dry and heavy in his mouth, and he wants to say _because you're the leader. Because you're the Black Paladin. Because the Black is more important than Red._ But he knows that none of those excuses are true. "Because you're important to _me_."

Shiro's forehead creases, concerned and angry. "More important than yourself?"

Keith closes his eyes. "I don't know."

"Yes, you do."

"Shiro..."

" _Keith_."

"...Yes."

" _Quiznak_." Shiro draws in a breath, sharp and tight, and then he starts crying, too. "That's not true, Keith. I'm not more important than you."

"To me, you are."

"But you know that you aren't, you _know_ that you and I are equally valuable, right?"

"Shiro," Keith shakes his head, "Look, Shiro, I'm just some kid that pilots a lion, alright? But you're so much more, you're a lot more important and..."

"Stop." Shiro mirrors Keith's movement. " _Stop._ That's not..."

"It _is_..."

"No it's _not_..."

Shiro stares at their hands, stares like it holds all the answers, like it might tell him how to deal with the situation. "You're all messed up," He sighs, closing his eyes regretfully, "But you're my family, you know that? And family's important."

Keith purses his lips. "You're my family, too, Shiro." He responds softly, "And I can't lose it again."

"Ohana means family," Shiro replied firmly, "And family means nobody gets left behind."

"Did you... did you seriously just quote Lilo & Stitch at me?"

Shiro turned bright red. "You... you know that movie?"

"Shiro, you _forced_ me to watch it, remember?"

Awkward laughter ensues. "Let's go to sleep."

"You're not avoiding the question that easily."

"What question? AHAHAHA..."

"STOP LAUGHING!"

"Shhhh, Keith, go to sleep."

"Like you _ever_ sleep."

They do end up falling asleep. In each other's arms, no less.

Not that Keith will ever admit it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Reply to Guest:** The summary says, "5 Times Someone Sleeps With Shiro, and 1 time they all do".

* * *

Hunk doesn't really remember his dreams.

They come and go, fading like wisps of smoke in the wind, meaningless and leaving behind only the faint breath of emotion.

He never quite thinks much of it, so when he wakes to sweat and tears and a strange sense of fear that leaves his body shaking, he doesn't really know what to do.

He would go to the kitchens, but Lance always locks that for the night because he knows that sometimes Hunk gets carried away and refuses to go to sleep until he perfects his recipes. (Which Lance refuses to let him do, since apparently he needs sleep. Pft. Nah. Lance just doesn't understand how important it is to make the perfect Gazz'lini.)

So, obviously, since the kitchen is out of the question, he goes to Lance.

But Lance is asleep, he can tell from the darkness when he peeks under the door, and he'd rather not wake Lance up when he woke him just a few days ago for a nightmare.

He knows that Lance would be alright with it, knows that he'd _want_ Hunk to wake him up, but Shiro's got some light poking out from underneath his door and Hunk really wants Lance to go to sleep, so maybe Shiro would be alright with Hunk staying for a little while?

He barely knocks once before Shiro opens the door, smile warm and inviting, before he starts. "Hunk, too?" He hears Shiro mutter under his breath, brow furrowing, before he turns back to Hunk with a light smile and a soft, "Come on in, Hunk. Did you have a bad night?"

"Yeah, well," Hunk swallows and stares at his yellow lion slippers. "I, um, I just need company. You don't have to talk to me or anything, I'd just rather..."

"Just rather not be alone right now?" Shiro finishes his sentence when Hunk peters off, unsure of how to say it properly.

Hunk nods, and Shiro mimics the motion before he opens the door wider to let Hunk in. "You should be asleep," Hunk notes as he surveys Shiro, still decked out in full armor and sweat trickling down the side of his cheek.

Shiro at least has the decency to look ashamed before he protests, "Aw, come on, Hunk, I already get enough of that from Lance."

"If you started listening to him, he'd stop lecturing you," Hunk points out, and Shiro wrinkles his nose.

"I sleep," Shiro whines, crossing his arms over his chests.

Hunk laughs. Loudly. "Right," He agrees sarcastically, and Shiro rolls his eyes but makes no more protests, apparently having long since had Lance beat it into his head that he needs more sleep, and that resistance is futile. "Alright, so, like, _seriously_ talking, all joking aside, you need sleep."

Shiro, being the eldest and most mature person on the ship, does the most mature and grown up thing that he can think to do.

He sticks out his tongue.

Which, of course just makes Hunk laugh even harder.

"I sleep," Shiro repeats, and Hunk cocks an eyebrow. "I do!" He exclaims, throwing his hands up in the air. "Why won't you believe me?"

"Dude, it's like, _midnight_ , and you're doing..." Hunk surveys Shiro, "...push ups or something."

Shiro sticks out his lower lip into a pout. "Squats," he mumbles, and Hunk rolls his eyes before offering Shiro a pointed stare. "Point," Shiro sighs, running his fingers through his hair and puffing out his cheeks. "You're changing the subject. We're talking about _you,_ Hunk."

Hunk raises an eyebrow as he makes his way to the bed and sits down, kicking off his slippers to raise his feet to the bed and wiggles his toes. "Why would we talk about me? I'm not the one who doesn't know how to take care of his own mental health."

"But you came to me," Shiro points out, sticking and hand on his hip and shutting the door. "Which means you _must_ have a reason, right?"

"Reason is that the kitchen is locked and Lance is asleep," Hunk agreed readily, bobbing his head into a nod. "Which, like, _totally_ sucks. But Lance wants me to take care of myself and sleep and stuff so who am I to argue?"

Shiro sighs. "Of course," he agrees, rubbing his thumb against his temple. "But why did you want to go to the kitchens?"

"And Lance."

Shiro stares incredulously. "Fine. And Lance."

Hunk shrugs and lets his legs dangle over the edge of the bed as he swings them, heels knocking lightly against the edge of the bed before flying out again. "I think I had a bad dream, but I honestly don't remember."

Shiro's stare intensifies. If that's, like, a thing. If it's not, then Hunk really doesn't know how he'd describe it.

"I'm kinda scared," Hunk continues when Shiro stays silent. "But I don't have a reason to, so it's weird. Like, my body is terrified of something? But my mind doesn't know what?" He shrugs again. "It's weird."

"I see," Shiro relaxes a bit, and Hunk takes a moment to wonder what Shiro's pajamas look like. He doesn't think he's ever seen them. Lance says he has, but Hunk bets he's joking. As if Shiro will _actually_ have little rocket ships on his pajama pants. Hunk may have bought those for a joke gift, but there's no way that Shiro would actually _wear_ them. Dream on, Lance. "Mind if I sit down next to you?"

Hunk squints at Shiro for a moment, disbelieving, then he replies, "Maybe change into something more comfortable than armor?"

"Oh," Shiro turns bright red, "Right. Could you... um..."

"Yeah," Hunk turns towards the wall and closes his eyes while he listens the Shiro's quick shuffling and the sound of cloth against skin and metal against the floor.

The shuffling sounds continue while Hunk amuses himself by singing one of Lance's random Spanish songs, then Shiro says, "I'm decent," and Hunk turns around.

Whoa.

"Whoa," Hunk gapes at Shiro, "You actually wear those clothes?"

Shiro plays with a loose thread on his shirt and his forehead creases as he responds uncertainly, "Yes? They're quite comfortable," He clears his throats and continues, "Ah, thank you for the clothes, Hunk."

Hunk is still kind of in shock (Shiro actually _wears_ them? _What_?) but he can't help but beam and respond, "You like the rocket ships?"

Shiro's uncertain stare turns into a bright smile as he claps his hands together and agrees, "They're so cool!"

They both laugh at that, and then Hunk pats the bed next to him and Shiro pops down. "Go to sleep, Shiro," Hunk sighs.

"Then talk to me," Shiro nudges him, "Are you alright to go to sleep again?"

Hunk feels his racing heart and his shaking hands and he closes his eyes and says softly, "Yeah."

Shiro smiles warmly at him, then asks softly, "Are you going to stay the night?"

This is so embarrassing, but Hunk knows the merits of honesty, so he nods, "Yeah."

Shiro just nods, like he's used to it, and says, "Alright."

So Hunk stays, and that's how they wake up, limbs tangled together and blanket tossed... somewhere.

(But it's nice, and warm, and Hunk bursts into the dining room the next day to shout, "Shiro wears little rocket ship pajamas!" and the others just reply, " _Duh_.")


	5. Chapter 5

**Reply to Guest:** Aw, thank you.

* * *

She doesn't initiate.

She never does, not really, and he supposes it makes sense because it's _Allura_ , cold, distant Allura who gets excited and loves shiny things but in the end is still mourning a world that's long since been destroyed.

Coran, bless him, does what he can, he speaks to Allura in soft tones or in bright cheers, whatever best suits her at the moment, but Allura pulls away and Shiro can tell... they all can... sometimes, she'll look at Coran and see her father, see Altea, and her face will crumble but she'll try to smile and it's so _wrong_ , and Coran will move away, knowing and feeling all the more lonely for it.

Shiro has wondered before if he ought to help Coran, to speak to him and see about his problems, but Lance seemed to have him covered, volunteering to help Coran clean the castle and offering little knickknacks that he found at their latest planet with a shout of, "Hey, hey, hey, Coran! Coran! Coran! Look at what I found!" as he thrusts his new bobble into Coran's face.

They're close, the two of them.

Shiro suspects that Lance is Coran's favorite, but he knows that it will be denied if the subject is ever raised.

Anyways.

Allura.

She's been getting less sleep lately, staring at the stars and then watching the Paladins with an odd, twisted look on her features, as though she's still trying to figure out how they had all gotten there.

Shiro knows the feeling, remembers it well from his time with the Galra, staring at them with a blank expression as he recalls his life on Earth and wonders how two worlds could be so different, yet still somehow similar.

(Guards talking about their children back home, occasionally watching a cloud pass through the sky after he's finished his opponent in the latest battle, a little boy with shaking hands as he talks about his home planet.)

Allura doesn't talk about it, is distant with the Paladins in the best of times, tries to understand but in the end, still, can't help but think about their ongoing war.

Shiro finds her a little after he's had a nightmare, a rare night where nobody's come into his room (he's heard whispers of Hunk and Pidge working on some project and Keith working on training maneuvers with each other, and he's grateful that they're becoming closer), when he hobbles to the kitchen and finds her already there, still staring at the stars, looking lost.

She looks like a little girl, Shiro thinks.

The thought sobers him.

"Princess?" He calls out, and her eyes flicker up quickly as she gives a little start.

"Shiro," Her words are halting, fumbling excuses, slipping off her tongue filterless and sleep deprived, before she seems to gather herself and straightens, eyes flashing as she demands, "What are you doing up here so late?"

He cocks an eyebrow and tilts his head to the side, "I could ask you the same thing, Princess," he intends to sound scolding, to pull out what Lance teasingly calls his 'Space Dad Voice', but it comes out wry.

"Alteans don't need as much sleep as humans," It's a lie, he knows it is, and he's completely willing to call her out on it.

"Of course," He raises his eyebrows, unimpressed, "That's why Coran sleeps even more than Hunk does."

She turns bright red, "He's older?" It's a stretch, and he'd almost believe her if it weren't for how much of a bald-faced lie it was, by the nervous tap of her fingers to the way her brow furrows and her voice lifts as though it were a question.

"Oh, come on, Princess," He pulls out a canister of something that's close to hot chocolate (Space Hot Chocolate, Lance declares with a laugh even as Pidge rolls her eyes), "You keep telling us to take care of each other when you can't even take care of yourself, don't you think that's a little hypocritical?"

It's a low blow, he can tell by the way that she stills and her eyes droop, and then she huffs, trying to maintain her dignity, "I don't see how any of this is your business."

"We're a team," He hums, "It's always our business."

Her chest, high and puffed, deflates, and her chin drops to her chest. "It's silly," She admits softly, using her fingers to trace circles into the island. "Something... something Lance might say."

"Couldn't be so bad," Shiro teases, and she almost laughs, a little breath of air that sounds small and unsure.

"I want to go home," She confesses, voice cracking and eyes closing. "I want... I want my bed back. I want to sleep with daddy's arms around me and I want my mom to sing me to sleep and I want to be in a room that isn't so cold and grey and I want..." A sob rips from her chest and it's horrifying to see someone who's usually so strong break down like that. "I want to go home."

"But you can't," Shiro realizes, brow furrowing. At least for them, for the humans, there's a chance, that maybe they can go home someday. But for Allura? For Coran? "That's not silly at all."

"It is," Allura buries her face in her hands and Shiro looks away from the way that her shoulders shake and her voice cracks in all the wrong places, "It's not useful, it just wastes time, and I should be grateful that I'm alive. We're here to fight a battle, not act like children."

But the words aren't so sharp, aren't as scolding as usual, just lonely and wistful, like the last wish of a lonely child.

"It's not childish to want these things," Shiro promises, and she sobs all the harder. "It's not, truly."

She shakes her head and closes her eyes and Shiro makes a cup of Space Hot Chocolate for her as well, sliding the glass to her and sitting in silence.

He offers to let her sleep with him for the night, and she shakes her head and turns red and says it isn't proper.

"You're like a sister to me," He says, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Is it not proper for family to sleep together?"

This wins her over and she ends up sleeping curled up by his side, her arms digging into his chest and her forehead pressed against his neck.

They don't speak about it come morning.

But a few days later, when Allura looks hesitant and unsure and he catches her with bags under her eyes again, he smiles tentatively at Hunk and asks if it's alright for Allura to stay the night as well.

(Hunk, of course, the adorable child, says _of course_ , warm and sweet and accepting. Allura protests, but they grow weaker every time.)

(Then, a few months later, she comes of her own accord, cheeks red and eyes lowered, and she smiles nervously and asks, _mind if I stay the night?_ He laughs and raises an eyebrow and she snickers as well, realizing that his answer will always be _of course I don't mind._ )


End file.
